Kallio and Aoyama first and second in the wet at Donington Park

2008-06-21 12:36
Red Bull KTM 250 star Mika Kallio was the fastest rider in Saturday's final qualifying session for the British Grand Prix. The result confirmed crucial setup adjustments that Kallio and his team had worked out for the Donington Park raceway.

Unfortunately wet weather at the British racing circuit meant that the improvements were not reflected in the starting positions. Kallio, normally present among the front runners, is back at fourteenth place. But because the set-up problems were solved on the first day of practice, the Finnish rider is still confident that he can regain lost terrain and go for a top position in the race.

Red Bull KTM team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama enjoyed a quicker start into the British Grand Prix and made sure of a second row position with sixth place in the first qualifying. But Aoyama was also one of the heroes in Saturday's incident-packed final qualifying session. He was not only second in the wet behind Kallio, but also was able to maintain his balance in a spectacular high speed off-track excursion just a minute from the end of the session.

Repsol KTM 250 rider Julian Simon was also among the top riders in both dry and wet conditions and will start alongside Aoyama from seventh position on the grid.

What the KTM riders said
Mika Kallio (Red Bull KTM 250 - First in second qualifying in 1:45.482; fourteenth overall in 1:33.595)
"Yesterday we seemed completely lost. Then we went through our set-up, step by step, tried to rule out what might have caused the different feeling on the bike and finally located the problem. Now I was fastest in today's wet conditions, which obviously doesn't help us with my grid position, but it does confirm we are back on track. The problem seems to be solved and we just have to wait and see what the conditions will be like tomorrow. Maybe it will be better for us if it stays wet, because we now have good settings for this kind of weather, whereas we still can't be completely sure about our dry set-up. Either way, I will try to get a good start and gain a few more positions in the first corner. Then we are back in business!"

Hiroshi Aoyama (Red Bull KTM 250 - Second in second qualifying in 1:45.737 (sixth overall in 1:32.983)
"Yesterday we were sixth and we wanted to improve our position and lap time, but unfortunately, it started to rain. We then concentrated on the search for a good wet set-up because there is a strong possibility of more rain tomorrow. Our position on the grid isn't too bad and I have quite a good feeling for the bike so we should have a good race tomorrow. I also had some good luck today. I was pushing a little too hard right at the end of the session. I ran off the track at high speed and was close to a crash. Now we really know where the limit is and we'll try to improve from there!"

Julian Simon (Repsol KTM 250 - seventh in second qualifying in 1:46.624 (seventh overall in 1:33.063)
"We are improving steadily and the bike has been responding to our set-up changes very well on this circuit. I might have made it to the front row of the grid had we had some more time. But then it started to rain and I mostly used the wet sessions today to find the same sort of comfort on the bike that I had yesterday in the dry. Once we achieved that, I was happy and even stopped a little bit early!"

Harald Bartol (Technical Director)
"It's going to be an exciting race tomorrow. Both our 250 riders are very fast, but Mika will have a tough job recovering from fourth row on the grid. Donington Park isn't a track with a lot of good overtaking opportunities. On the other hand, I know Mika as a good starter and I trust that he will be able to make up some positions very early on."

Source: KTM-Sportmotorcycle AG

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